Decision '88 Opening
Opening Music
Tom Brokaw: Good evening America, and welcome to NBC's coverage of the 1988 Election Results. In what is the tightest race since the epic Kennedy/Nixon showdown of 1960, the polls show the race to be inside of the margin of error of the margin of error.
What looked like a runaway for Democratic Senator Jim Hunt of North Carolina has narrowed after a brass knuckled, hard fought comeback from Vice President George Bush of Texas over the past three months. We'll begin by getting the lay of the land from Tim Russert, our political guru. Tim, let's go through tonight's many battleground states, starting in the Northeast.....
TR: Well, Tom. Connecticut is on a knife edge, and will probably come down to a few hundred votes either way. People I've talked with in the Bush campaign have been feeling better about their chances there and in New Jersey and Delaware over the past few days. On the Hunt side, they're feeling very good about their chances for picking up Vermont and Maryland....and then there's the big prize of the night: Pennsylvania, with it's 25 electoral votes. It's a must win for the Hunt campaign, and they are feeling optimistic about a win there tonight; polls have consistently been giving Hunt the edge there by 3 to 4 points, and it's a state that Gary Hart lost by fewer than 700 votes four years ago,
TB: Now, Tim, down onto Dixie......
TR: Despite the fact that Hunt is a popular son of North Carolina, he's struggled to break through into the South. He's on track to carry North Carolina and it's 13 electoral votes, but beyond that, his best chances are probably in Kentucky and Louisiana, both are coin flips. If Hunt's having a really big night, he might get Arkansas, where Governor Bill Clinton has been pushing extremely hard, but beyond that....there are limited opportunities. While Hunt will do better in states like Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee, it probably won't be enough.
TB: Tim....and now onto one of the two big acts of tonight, the Midwest....
TR: Wow.....five huge and crucial states for both candidates: Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. A whomping 89 electoral votes in play. Let's start with Ohio, where despite the best efforts of Governor Dick Celeste, the Hunt campaign has been polling narrowly behind Vice President Bush by about 2 points; it's probably the state the GOP feels best about tonight. With Paul Simon on the ticket, Democrats have begin to pull away in Illinois, which would net them 24 electoral votes. They're also confident in about their chances in the dairy state of Wisconsin. Hunt's Southern charm offensive has born fruit in Missourah; they've been narrowly tracking ahead there. As for Michigan, who knows; polling's been all over the place.
TB: But important to note just how close these five states have been; a gust of wind in the right place tonight could make all the difference between a sweep and a wipeout for both campaigns. As for the rest of the West before California.....
TR: The Hunt campaign thinks they'll pick up heavily Hispanic New Mexico and South Dakota for sure, and they've been making a play for Colorado in the last few weeks; the joke goes "why not, if we have to refuel somewhere between St. Louis and San Diego anyways...."
TB: Which brings us to the biggest of the big enchiladas of them all: California and it's monstrous 47 electoral votes. The battleground state of battleground states.......we'll go live to Katie Couric in Los Angeles....
Katie Couric: Tim and Tom, there have been enormous lines at polling stations throughout the day, which the Hunt campaign takes as a positive sign, but it's just so tight here. Senator Pete Wilson, the GOP's Vice Presidential nominee, has been campaigning hard here even on election day. The GOP is counting on outsized turnout in San Diego and the LA suburbs to counter the Democratic surge in the Bay Area and urban Los Angeles.....
TR: It is going to be a very, very long night out in California. We probably won't know who has won until the wee hours of the morning. Nobody has a clue as to who the winner in the Golden State will be.....or that matter the other sixteen battleground states. As they say at a rodeo, hang on to your hats!
TB: We're off to break now, but when we comeback we'll have a quick recap of this historic, tumultuous campaign, plus the first results of the night......
Tom Brokaw: Good evening America, and welcome to NBC's coverage of the 1988 Election Results. In what is the tightest race since the epic Kennedy/Nixon showdown of 1960, the polls show the race to be inside of the margin of error of the margin of error.
What looked like a runaway for Democratic Senator Jim Hunt of North Carolina has narrowed after a brass knuckled, hard fought comeback from Vice President George Bush of Texas over the past three months. We'll begin by getting the lay of the land from Tim Russert, our political guru. Tim, let's go through tonight's many battleground states, starting in the Northeast.....
TR: Well, Tom. Connecticut is on a knife edge, and will probably come down to a few hundred votes either way. People I've talked with in the Bush campaign have been feeling better about their chances there and in New Jersey and Delaware over the past few days. On the Hunt side, they're feeling very good about their chances for picking up Vermont and Maryland....and then there's the big prize of the night: Pennsylvania, with it's 25 electoral votes. It's a must win for the Hunt campaign, and they are feeling optimistic about a win there tonight; polls have consistently been giving Hunt the edge there by 3 to 4 points, and it's a state that Gary Hart lost by fewer than 700 votes four years ago,
TB: Now, Tim, down onto Dixie......
TR: Despite the fact that Hunt is a popular son of North Carolina, he's struggled to break through into the South. He's on track to carry North Carolina and it's 13 electoral votes, but beyond that, his best chances are probably in Kentucky and Louisiana, both are coin flips. If Hunt's having a really big night, he might get Arkansas, where Governor Bill Clinton has been pushing extremely hard, but beyond that....there are limited opportunities. While Hunt will do better in states like Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee, it probably won't be enough.
TB: Tim....and now onto one of the two big acts of tonight, the Midwest....
TR: Wow.....five huge and crucial states for both candidates: Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. A whomping 89 electoral votes in play. Let's start with Ohio, where despite the best efforts of Governor Dick Celeste, the Hunt campaign has been polling narrowly behind Vice President Bush by about 2 points; it's probably the state the GOP feels best about tonight. With Paul Simon on the ticket, Democrats have begin to pull away in Illinois, which would net them 24 electoral votes. They're also confident in about their chances in the dairy state of Wisconsin. Hunt's Southern charm offensive has born fruit in Missourah; they've been narrowly tracking ahead there. As for Michigan, who knows; polling's been all over the place.
TB: But important to note just how close these five states have been; a gust of wind in the right place tonight could make all the difference between a sweep and a wipeout for both campaigns. As for the rest of the West before California.....
TR: The Hunt campaign thinks they'll pick up heavily Hispanic New Mexico and South Dakota for sure, and they've been making a play for Colorado in the last few weeks; the joke goes "why not, if we have to refuel somewhere between St. Louis and San Diego anyways...."
TB: Which brings us to the biggest of the big enchiladas of them all: California and it's monstrous 47 electoral votes. The battleground state of battleground states.......we'll go live to Katie Couric in Los Angeles....
Katie Couric: Tim and Tom, there have been enormous lines at polling stations throughout the day, which the Hunt campaign takes as a positive sign, but it's just so tight here. Senator Pete Wilson, the GOP's Vice Presidential nominee, has been campaigning hard here even on election day. The GOP is counting on outsized turnout in San Diego and the LA suburbs to counter the Democratic surge in the Bay Area and urban Los Angeles.....
TR: It is going to be a very, very long night out in California. We probably won't know who has won until the wee hours of the morning. Nobody has a clue as to who the winner in the Golden State will be.....or that matter the other sixteen battleground states. As they say at a rodeo, hang on to your hats!
TB: We're off to break now, but when we comeback we'll have a quick recap of this historic, tumultuous campaign, plus the first results of the night......